Expansible band for watches having edges designed for decreasing cuff wear



April 30, 1957 EXPANSIBLE BAND FOR WATCHES HAVING EDGES DESIGNED FOR DECREASING CUFF WEAR Filed May 4, 1954 KENZO MINEMATSU 2,790,302

IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent EXPANSIBLE BAND FOR WATCHES HAVING EDGES DESIGNED FOR DECREASING CUFF WEAR Kenzo Minematsu, Kita-ku, Tokyo, Japan Application May 4, 1954, Serial No. 427,527

1 Claim. (Cl. 59-79) The present invention relates to improvements in expansion bands for watches, bracelets and the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide an expansion band for a watch, bracelet and the like which can avoid fraying of cutfs of clothing in the course of wearing thereof.

It is another object of this invention to provide an elastic band for a watch, bracelet and the like, of which elastic movement can be made smoothly and flexibly.

It is further an object of this invention to provide an elastic band for a watch, bracelet and the like which can be manufactured at low cost.

With those and other objects in view and hereinafter set forth, the arrangement of parts is described in the ensuing specification and delineated in the claim appended thereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein illustrative embodiments of the invention are disclosed, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a complete elastic band; Fig. 2 is a front view of a part of the expanded elastic band; Fig. 3 is a rear view of the construction shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a component part of the elastic band and Fig. 5 is a rear view of the construction illustrated in Fig. 4. v

Now describing details of this invention with reference to the drawing attached, there is shown an elastic band for a watch, bracelet and the like, consisting of plural pairs of component parts or links made to cross in the X shape, each pair comprising outside lid shell 7 covering upper base plate 1 and inside lid shell 9 covering lower base plate 2 at the centre of said upper and lower base plates 1, 2. The two component parts or links of each pair are pivoted together by means of a cylindrical pivot 3, in which a helical spring 4 is provided, both ends of said helical spring 4 being fixed on the upper and lower base plates 1, 2 respectively so that the two component parts are made to shrink to overlap each other continu ously. At the upper and lower ends, the base plates of the component links of the upper series are pivoted with the base plates of the adjacent links of the lower series through cylindrical pivots 5, 6. Both upper and lower ends of the outside lid shell 7 covering the upper base plate 1 are bent toward the center of the shell or inwardly upon themselves so that they form arcuate projections 8 pressing and fixing the upper base plate 1. To this end the outer lid shell projects laterally beyond and is greater-in length than the inside lid shell 9 so that the face of the projection 8 and that of the inside lid shell 9 are approximately on the same level, leaving suflicient gap between the upper and lower ends of the inside lid shell 9 and the inner ends of the projections 8 for smooth sliding movement of the component parts.

In the conventional elastic or expansion band for a watch, bracelet and the like hitherto in use, edges of both outside and inside lid shells covering the base plates are externally exposed at both sides of the elastic band 2,790,302 Patented Apr. 30, 1957 outside lid shell 7, the upper and lower ends of which are somewhat bent inwardly and, thus, form smooth, slanted surfaces preventing the cuffs of clothing to be caught by the edges, thus, avoiding the fraying of the cuffs of clothing when the elastic band is worn on the wrist.

Furthermore, according to this invention, in fitting the outside lid shell 7 to the upper base plate 1, the small projection hitherto provided on the outside lid shell 7 of the conventional structure for securing the upper base plate 1 can be omitted. By virtue of the fact that each upper base plate 1 isfixed by turning up the upper and lower ends of the corresponding outside lid shell 7 while the opposite inside lid shell 9, which is shorter in length than the outside lid shell 7, is' attached to it leav' ing sufiicient gap between the upper and lower ends of the inside lid shell 9 and the inner ends of the projections 8 of the associated outside lid shell 7, permitting no obstacle to be caught as is the'case in the conventional elastic band, smooth sliding with the back base plate 2 can be secured and elastic movement of the band with far greater elasticity and smoothness can be attained in comparison with the elastic band of the conventional construction. Furthermore, according to this invention, manufacturing cost can be reduced to some considerable extent due to the simplified construction of the elastic band.

Having described the invention, it isobvious that the same is not to be restricted to the form illustrated, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claim.

Having thus described the'invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

In an expansion band; a plurality of links each including a base plate and a shell having opposite ends and covering said base plate, said links beingarranged, in opposite upper. and lower series, respectively, the ends of each of the lower series of links being pivotally connected at respective locations intermediate the opposite ends of the shells of' the upper series of links with at least two base plates of said upper series of links, each of said shells of said upper series of links being provided with two projections located at its opposite ends, respectively, each pair of projections being arcuately bent toward the center of the respective upper shell and en gaging the corresponding upper base plate, whereby said shells of said upper series of links are retained on said corresponding upper base plates, aportion of each of the arcuately bent projections of said-upper shells being 10- cated at a perpendicular distance from the respective References Cited in the file of patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- D. 171,838

' FOREIGN PATENTS 344,691 Great Britain Mar. 12, 1931 Boots Mar. 30,1954 

